The Perplexus Programming Framework: Combining Bio-inspiration and Agent-Oriented Programming for the Simulation of Large Scale Complex Systems

This paper presents a flexible agent-oriented programming framework that provides native support for bio-inspired mechanisms. This solution, developed within the Perplexus IST European project [IST-034632] aims at providing a means for the specification of applications running on a distributed and pervasive network of mobile nodes. In such applications, the deployed systems may face time-changing environments and bio-inspiration may prove useful bringing self-adaptability to the system. The presented framework features are demonstrated on a proof-of-concept application made of simple robots that autonomously improve their behaviour over time.